Sunday, November 13, 2016

My wife really loves it when her mother cooks thịt kho tàu, a Vietnamese braised pork dish, for her. It always brings her back to her childhood. I will likely never be able to replicate her mother's recipe, but this version of the dish gets her thumbs up.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

2 1/2 cups of finely ground butter cookies (I really like Danisa Butter Cookies. I grew up with these and they are buttery delicious) (see picture #1)

1/4 cup of melted butter

Sour Cream Topping

16 oz sour cream

1/3 cup of sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Here's What You Do:

Let's Start With the Foundation

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F

1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

Evenly spread the cookie crumbs out on a baking sheet and place in the oven (see picture #2)

Toast crumbs for 5 minutes until golden brown (see picture #3)

While the crumbs are toasting, line the bottom of a 9 in. springform pan with parchment paper (I am a big Alton Brown fan, so if you are interested, here is a great technique on how to line a round pan)

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Aidan and Brooke made these (except for the stirring because "My arm is so tired, Mommy!" and they turned out great! Super ooey and gooey just like the packaged version which was what we were going for!

Ingredients

4 tablespoons of butter

8 cups of mini marshmallows

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 tablespoon of milk

6 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal

Instructions

Slowly melt the butter in a large pan, low heat.

Once butter is melted, add vanilla and 6 cups of marshmallows. Melt the marshmallows slowly.

Right
before the marshmallows are fully melted, add milk and the other 2 cups
of marshmallows. Stir until the added marshmallows are starting to
melt. (we don't want them fully melt so you will have fun pockets of marshmallow)

Add the Rice Krispie Cereal. Stir until the cereal is fully coated with the marshmallow fluff.

Dump
into an 8 x 11 greased dish. Use a greased spatula to spread out the
treats and press down just a bit (you don't want them so compacted
that they become rock hard).

Allow to fully cool before cutting and serving.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

If you are in a rush but want to do better than the boxed macaroni and cheese, here's a quick and simple recipe from my coworker. The chicken broth seems weird but it adds the salty and savory taste that makes it delicious w/out having to add any salt or butter to this. I like to use the steamer basket on my rice cooker and steam broccoli with the rice cooker as the macaroni and cheese is cooking...makes it a complete meal!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Whenever I want a green smoothie that is refreshing, this is my go to.

I use a lot of Costco ingredients since that is my primary place for groceries.

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

2 cups of Earthbound Farms Deep Green Blends Power (or any combination of Kale, Spinach, and baby greens. Just watch out for putting in too much Kale as it may given the smoothie a slightly more bitter taste).

Monday, December 21, 2015

I think what makes these noodles Vietnamese is that (1) there is fish sauce in it. (2) They were made famouse by an upscale Vietnamese restaurant in LA called Crustacean. My friend, Cam, made some a few weeks ago and we loved it so I'm using the recipe that she sent me. It's delicious. Her version she added veggies for the kids. She chose Chinese broccoli and red cabbage. Brooke ate it all up! I decided to make it with mushroom and Chinese broccoli...everybody loved it and I will be making it again for Christmas!Prep Time: 15 Mins | Cook Time: 5 Mins | Servings: About 3 or 4

Rinse the noodles with running water to discard the oil from the noodles. Drain and set aside.

Heat
up a pot of water until boiling. Add the noodles into the boiling water
and cook the noodles until al dente (you want it to still have a good
chewy bite), or for a few minutes. You can taste the texture of the
noodles while cooking. Do not overcook as the noodles will turn soggy.
Transfer the noodles out and drain dry.

Prepare
the garlic sauce using a saute pan on medium to low heat. Add the
butter into the pan and when it melts, add the garlic and saute until
aromatic but not browned. Add all the seasonings (Maggi, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar) into the pan, stir to
combine well. Transfer the garlic sauce into a small bowl.

To serve, just toss all the noodles with the garlic sauce. Add the cheese, toss to combine well. Serve immediately.